Availability of Good Quality Seed is Important for Improving Its Productivity: Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, and Food and Public Distribution, met with the Textile Advisory Group (TAG) in Mumbai on July 14, 2022, to review work progress. The Textile Commissioner & Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. collaborated to organize the meeting.

Goyal emphasized that the availability of high-quality cotton seeds is critical to increasing cotton productivity. He also emphasized the importance of introducing advanced technologies such as high-yielding cotton seeds and innovative agronomy such as the High-Density Planting System to boost cotton productivity. He directed the Cotton Corporation of India to provide Agricultural Extension Services to our farmers through its network of branches across India in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Goyal encourages the industry to focus on quality awareness throughout the value chain and assures that initiatives to support modern facilities will be supported. The country's textile value chain must strengthen traceability technologies and testing facilities. While deliberating on approaches for using colored fertilizer bags to avoid contamination in cotton, Goyal directed TAG to address the long-pending issue on a priority basis with a solution that does not allow for cost escalation.

In response to the need for specific delivery-based contracts and open position limits on the MCX, Goyal directed the Ministry, Textile Commissioner, CCI, and TAG to work with the MCX/SEBI to find structured solutions on the 'contract' front. Any possibility of price manipulation to the detriment of the cotton textile value chain must be avoided.

On the recommendation of the industry, Goyal directed the Textile Commissioner to invoke the penal provisions of the relevant sections of the Collection of Statistics Act to ensure compliance with the need for accuracy of statistics throughout the value chain. The action could start right away with the Ginning segment. He directed the Textile Commissioner to use CCI personnel to collect data from the Ginning segment under the Collection of Statistics Act.

Goyal directed an investigation into the objectivity, feasibility, and reliability of a yarn national index for the industry. He emphasized that the Central Institute for Research in Cotton Technology (CIRCOT) and the Southern India Mills' Association - Cotton Development & Research Association (SIMA-CDRA) make a concerted effort to develop an indigenous, cost-effective, and efficient device validated by our user farmers for mechanized cotton picking.

Darshana V. Jardosh, Union Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, Upendra Prasad Singh, Secretary Textiles, Senior Officials from the Union Ministries of Textiles, Agriculture & Farmer's Welfare, Commerce, Officials from the Research and Development sector, Senior Officials from the Office of the Textile Commissioner & the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd., and stakeholders were in attendance. The entire textile value chain was represented in the consultations by the meeting's lead associations and experts.

The actions taken in response to the points raised at the last interactive meeting, held on May 29, 2022 in Mumbai, were deliberated upon, followed by a presentation by Suresh Kotak, Chairman of the TAG and a renowned veteran cotton person. Suresh Kotak elaborated initiatives aimed at increasing supply, crop protection, and cotton productivity, all of which are critical for strengthening the cotton textile value chain from farm to fashion to foreign markets.